Golf practice device

ABSTRACT

A golf practice device arranged to receive chip or pitch shots in a flexible receptacle suspended from a segmented ring carried by detachable legs so as to permit ready disassembly and storage, the legs being pivotally adjustable to vary the ring and receptacle disposition, and also arranged to return the received balls to the player through a funnel in the receptacle and a ball-return conduit. Resilient tie-down straps are connected between spaced apart locations on the lower edge of the receptacle and collars which may be shifted to different positions on the legs.

United States Patent [1 1 Blanchard GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE [76] Inventor: Jack D. Blanchard, 20351 Bolinger Road, Cupertino, Calif. 95014 [22] Filed: Dec. 27, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 212,213

[52] US. Cl. ..273/182 R, 248/439, 248/165 [51] Int. Cl. ..A63b 69/36 [58] Field of Search ..273/176, 181, 182, 105

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,430,280 9/1922 Bolton ..273/l8l F 2,895,737 7/1959 Blees ...273/181 F X 2,936,179 5/1960 Thurston ..273/182 R 3,540,734 11/1970 Temple ..273/l8l A 1 March 6, 1973 Primary Examiner-George J. Marlo Att0rneyPaul B. Fihe 5 7 ABSTRACT A golf practice device arranged to receive chip or pitch shots in a flexible receptacle suspended from a segmented ring carried by detachable legs so as to permit ready disassembly and storage, the legs being pivotally adjustable to vary the ring and receptacle disposition, and also arranged to return the received balls to the player through a funnel in the receptacle and a ball-retum conduit. Resilient tie-down straps are connected between spaced apart locations on the lower edge of the receptacle and collars which may be shifted to different positions on the legs.

9 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures GOLF PRACTICE DEVICE FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates generally to golf practice devices and more particularly, to a golf practice device in the form of a target receptacle arranged to receive golf balls pitched or chipped thereinto.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A number of golf practice devices having the general form of a target receptacle for the reception of pitched or chipped golf shots have been proposed but have had very limited utility because of certain seemingly inherent practical problems. In the first place, the target has to be sufficiently large to be capable of practical use at any distance and as a consequence, becomes a bulky apparatus which is rather difficult to handle and move so as to be limited to substantially a permanent type installation. Secondly, in order to render the target receptacle most useful, certain adjustments in its disposition are necessary and any of the prior art structures have utilized relatively complex mechanisms to provide such adjustment adding considerable structural complexity and resultant increased cost.

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION It is the general objective of the present invention to circumvent the mentioned difficulties of the prior art structures by providing a golf practice device in the form of a target receptacle which is of simple lightweight construction formed by the rapid assembly of but few parts whose dimensions are relatively small, yet enabling, when set up, ease of adjustment for various operational needs. Briefly, this objective is achieved by providing a golf practice device including a rather shallow generally cup-shaped receptacle formed by flexible material and suspended at its upper lip from a support ring preferably of generally circular configuration and formed by a number of arcuate segments which can be readily joined at their extremities and yet can be readily disconnected when the unit is to be disassembled and stored. The receptacle support ring is, in turn, carried by a number of legs which are pivotally joined to the support ring at their upper ends for adjustment about an axis which is substantially tangential to the support ring wherefore the legs can be angularly adjusted to vary the general disposition of the support ring and the receptacle suspended therefrom. Resilient straps join the legs to the lower edge of the receptacle to resiliently maintain the legs in their ring supporting dispositions and also to maintain the flexible receptacle in its desired configuration. Limited angular adjustment of the legs is permitted because of the resilience of the straps but if greater adjustment is required, the point of attachment of the resilient straps to the legs can be readily adjusted.

Preferably, an opening is provided in the bottom of the receptacle adjacent one edge thereof to receive a funnel that is connected at its lower end to a ball return conduit that slopes downwardly towards the area of the player so that balls successfully chipped into the receptacle are returned for a repeated shot. This conduit is also formed by a number of relatively short tubular segments that are telescopically joined at their extremities.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The stated objective of the invention and the manner in which it is achieved as summarized hereinabove will be more readily understood by reference to the following description of the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawing wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a golf practice device embodying the invention,

FIG. 2 is a top plan view thereof,

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 2 to illustrate the leg supporting arrangement of the structure, and

FIG. 4 is another enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 2 to illustrate a ball return conduit structure in greater detail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION With initial reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, the golf practice device embodying the invention includes a shallow generally cup-shaped receptacle 10 preferably formed of canvas or other flexible material including a generally cylindrical side wall joined at its lower edge to a circular bottom. The upper lip of the cup-shaped canvas receptacle 10 is cut-away at four positions, spaced at arcuate intervals of and the intermediate sections of the lip are folded over to form a conduit within which a plurality of arcuate tubular segments 12 are received, these segments being joined in the cutaway portions of the lip by tubular couplers 14 that are, in turn, releasably joined to the ends of the arcuate segments by set screws 16, thus to form a support ring of generally circular configuration and generally indicated at 18.

The receptacle support ring 18 is, in turn, carried by four legs 20 whose lower ends are adapted to rest on the ground and whose upper ends are each received in the downwardly projecting socket portion of a T- shaped coupler 22, the head portion of the T being loosely and therefore pivotally arranged around the support ring 18 at a position adjacent the couplers 14, it being obvious that the T-shaped coupler is mounted loosely on the support ring segments 12 prior to final assembly of the segments into the completed ring 18.

At an intermediate position on each of the legs 20, a small collar 24 is adjustably positioned by means of a set screw 26 and a resilient strap 28 passes at a position intermediate its length over such set screw 26 and is connected by hooks 30 at its ends to small eyelets 32 at the bottom edge of the canvas receptacle at positions on opposite sides of the respective leg. The tensile force exert by these straps 28 serves several purposes. First, it maintains a downward force on the canvas receptacle 10 itself so as to maintain its cup-shaped disposition. Secondly, it exerts an upward force on the legs 20 to maintain their upper ends in the sockets of the ring supporting T-shaped couplers 22 and finally, when the legs 20 are disposed in their erected outwardly-inclined dispositions as best shown in FIG. 3, the resilient straps 28 exert in inward tensile force on the legs to hold them against the ground in adjusted supporting relationship for the support and the receptacle suspended therefrom.

However, since these straps 28 are resilient, and the head of the T-shaped coupler 22 loosely surrounds the ring 18 so as to permit pivotal motion of the legs 20 about an axis which is essentially tangential to the ring, each individual leg can be pivotally adjusted for example, from the full line disposition shown in FIG. 3 to the phantom line disposition thus to lower the level of this particular supported position of the support ring 18. Accordingly, without any actual variation in the length of the legs 20, a changed disposition of the support ring 18 and the receptacle carried thereby can be readily achieved. If a more radical change in the receptacle disposition is desired, the collar 24 can be adjusted longitudinally of the leg by temporarily releasing the set screw 26 on the collar and adjusting such collar either upwardly or downwardly as required to enable greater angular adjustment of a particular leg 20 and a consequent variation in the level of support of the associated section of the support ring 18.

Preferably, the legs 20 at the front of the receptacle 10, that portion which is closest to the golfer, are slightly shorter than those to the rear of thereceptacle so that the normal configuration of the receptacle will be slightly tilted in the direction of the player to provide a target for his shooting and this illustrated angular disposition can be varied by adjustment of the legs so as to present a target which will accommodate the trajectory of balls pitched with various golf clubs. Thus, the disposition shown in FIG. 1 might be utilized. when a pitching wedge is being used by the golfer but a greater angular inclination would be made when chipping with a seven iron.

Preferably, an opening 34 is formed in the bottom of the receptacle 10 adjacent its front edge, that is, that edge closest to the golfer, and therefore normally at the lowest disposition of the sloped receptacle wherefore any balls chipped or pitched into the receptacle will gravitate downwardly along the bottom thereof into this opening. A funnel 36 having a flange at its upper perimeter is releasably supported in this opening and its lower end is bent angularly to telescopically join the end of one of a series of releasably-joined tubes forming a sloping ball return conduit 38 which extends in the direction of the player so that balls chipped or pitched into the receptacle successfully will be returned to the player for a repeated shot. To maintain the desired inclination of a ball return conduit of any substantial length, small wire supports 40 can be pushed into the ground to engage the conduit at various positions along its length.

For pitching or chipping from relatively short distances that is, 20 or 30 yards or less, the receptacle 10 need be no more than three feet in diameter and positioned at a general elevation no greater than four feet and since the receptacle itself is rather shallow, substantial slope to the ball return conduit 38 can be readily achieved to facilitate gravity flow or rolling of the ball back to the hitting area. If greater distances are to be utilized between player and the receptacle, it will be commensurately larger and may be elevated somewhat more to assure a sufficient drop to facilitate rolling return of the ball through the lengthier ball return conduit.

When the unit is to be disassembled for storage or for transportation, it is merely necessary to remove the resilient straps 28 from their connections over the set screws 26 on the legs 20 at which time the legs can be pulled from their sockets. In turn, the set screws 16 on the ring segment couplers 14 can be slightly loosened to allow ready withdrawal of the ring segments 12 for subsequent storage in a minimum space. The ball return conduit tubing can be disjointed and the funnel 36, in turn, removed from the opening 34 in the receptacle 10 which receptacle in turn, can be folded into a small space. When so disassembled, the entire unit can, for example, be transported very readily in the trunk of an average passenger car and when once again to be used, it can be quickly assembled and ready for use in a matter of minutes. I

The elements which form the described practice device are very simple and inexpensive; the ring segments 12 and the legs 20 can be formed from conventional thin-wall electrical conduit tubing, the receptacle 10 from inexpensive canvas and the ball return conduit 38 from relatively inexpensive plastic tubing of appropriate dimensions to loosely accommodate the golf balls. These particularly described elements are also of relatively light weight so as to be easily handled by any player.

What is claimed is:

l. A golf practice device which comprises,

a support ring,

a plurality of legs, each joined to said ring at its upper end for pivotal motion about an axis tangential to said ring whereby the disposition of said ring can be varied, a flexible receptacle suspended by said ring, and

resilient tie-down straps connected between spaced apart locations on the lower edge of said receptacle and said legs.

2. A golf practice device according to claim 1 wherein,

said ring is formed by a plurality of arcuate segments releasably joined at their extremities.

3. A golf practice device according to claim 2 wherein,

a T-shaped coupler loosely surrounds said support ring and releasably receives the upper end of each of said legs.

4. A golf practice device according to claim 3 wherein,

said flexible receptacle is of shallow cup-shaped configuration with an intermittent lip portion suspended from said ring segments intermediate their points of juncture.

5. A golf practice device according to claim 4 which comprises,

means for adjusting the position of connection of each tie-down strap along a respective leg.

6. A golf practice device according to claim 3 wherein,

said ring segments and said legs are all formed by single segments of hollow tubing.

7. A golf practice device according to claim 1 which comprises,

a discharge funnel secured in an opening in the bottom of said receptacle adjacent the edge thereof.

8. A golf practice device according to claim 7 which comprises,

6 a ball-return conduit connected to the lower end wherein,

of said funnel and extending away from said said ball-return conduit is composed of aplurality of receptacle at a slightly downward inclination releasably joined relatively-Short tubular 8' whereby balls can roll therethrough. ments- 9. A golf practice device according to claim 8 5 

1. A golf practice device which comprises, a support ring, a plurality of legs, each joined to said ring at its upper end for pivotal motion about an axis tangential to said ring whereby the disposition of said ring can be varied, a flexible receptacle suspended by said ring, and resilient tie-down straps connected between spaced apart locations on the lower edge of said receptacle and said legs.
 1. A golf practice device which comprises, a support ring, a plurality of legs, each joined to said ring at its upper end for pivotal motion about an axis tangential to said ring whereby the disposition of said ring can be varied, a flexible receptacle suspended by said ring, and resilient tie-down straps connected between spaced apart locations on the lower edge of said receptacle and said legs.
 2. A golf practice device according to claim 1 wherein, said ring is formed by a plurality of arcuate segments releasably joined at their extremities.
 3. A golf practice device according to claim 2 wherein, a T-shaped coupler loosely surrounds said support ring and releasably receives the upper end of each of said legs.
 4. A golf practice device according to claim 3 wherein, said flexible receptacle is of shallow cup-shaped configuration with an intermittent lip portion suspended from said ring segments intermediate their points of juncture.
 5. A golf practice device according to claim 4 which comprises, means for adjusting the position of connection of each tie-down strap along a respective leg.
 6. A golf practice device according to claim 3 wherein, said ring segments and said legs are all formed by single segments of hollow tubing.
 7. A golf practice device according to claim 1 which comprises, a discharge funnel secured in an opening in the bottom of said receptacle adjacent the edge thereof.
 8. A golf practice device according to claim 7 which comprises, a ball-return conduit connected to the lower end of said funnel and extending away from said receptacle at a slightly downward inclination whereby balls can roll therethrough. 